Engine-starter.



Patented May 13, 1913.

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E. D. BANGS.

ENGINE STARTER.

APPLICATION rum) 1413.5. 1912.

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1,061,719, Patented May 13, 1913.

3 SHBETSSHEET 2.

Wok/14% E. D. BANGS.

ENGINE STARTER.

APPLIOATION'P'ILED MAR.5,1912.

Patented May 13, 1913.

3 8HEET8-BHEET 3.

- Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and ion thereof.

- mechanismffor'internal combustion engines, the lnventlon consisting in certam'pecuharr 188 of construction and combinatlon'of parts plan view of an englne embodying the tenpump-carrying bracket, showing the air- I claimed.

tion to spring pressure.

- securely? clampe I fly-whee'l rim by a j glfiipping spring tong 1 rmrans nog pagans. orricn.

EDWIN D. BANG-S, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

ENGINE-STARTER.-

To all whom it may concern: y

Be it known that I, EDWIN D. Bases, a citizen ofthe United States, and resident of State offWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Engine- Starters; and I do hereby declare that the tollowing is a full, clear, and exact descrip- .My invention has for itsobjectto provide a simple,i' economical and positive starter as hereinafter set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequently In the drawings Figure 1 represents a tures of my invention, the engine and starter mechanism being illustrated and shown mounted upon a trucl'eframe; Fig. 2, a cross section' of the same, the section beingindicated byline 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detail longitudinal section of the starter mecha-' nism showin its relation to the flywheel of the engine; ig. 4:, a cross-section of said fly-wheel, Fig. 5,. adetailed view of the clutch connection between a driving pinion and the motor-shaft; Fig. 6 illustrates a plan view of a portion of the fly-wheel rack enlarged witha pair of the motor shaft pinion wheels in section,'said view showing the. manner of tapering the teeth of thegears, .whereby'they will readily slide into mesh, and Fig. -7 a diagram view of the controlled means for operating the same in section, the said air-control being inopposi- Referring by characters'tothe drawings, 1, 1, represent the side beams of atruckframe connected by cross-girders 2, upon which girdersi's mounted an engine 3 of the internal combustion type, the engine being provided with the usual'crank-shaft 4 and fly-wheel 5, all of which mechanism forms no part of my invention. Mounted upon the rim, of the fly-wheelo is a toothed angle-iron r ng 6, the verticalfiange 7 of which ring is to the adjacent face of the "plurality of frictional ties-8, the tongues being ustable as to tension through their securing bolts 9, which bolts are in threaded Specification of Letters Patent.

union, as'best shown in Fig. 4, with the fly- Patented May 13,1913.

Application filed March 5, 1912. Serial No. 881,723.

wheel: rim. By this construction it is apparent that the rim frictionally held to the fly-wheel and will thus yield slightly in case of 'backfiring, the friction gripping being suflicientto cause rotation of the parts together under ordinary conditions whereby the engine crank-shaft may be rotated for the purpose of starting the same. The truck-frame is also provided with a cross girder 2 to an ear of which is hinged a bracket 10. Mounted upon this bracket is an air'pump 11, which pump is in crank connection with a gear-wheel 12 that is revoluble upon a stud carried by the bracket. The gear-wheel 12 in turn is meshed with a pinion 12' that is secured to a shaft 13, which shaft is journaled in the bracket, its opposite end being provided with, a friction wheel 14, the same being adapted to be brought into and out of engagement with the periphery of the engine fly-wheel 5 incidental to oscillatory movement of the bracket.

As best shown in Fig. 3, the bracket is provided with an apertured-arm 10 that is adapted to receive thehead end of a threaded stud 15, which stud passes through an apertured cap 16 that is secured to the floor 1? of the truck body, the floor being illus trated in Figs. 2 and 3. The threaded stud is engaged by a cap-screw 15 that is seated upon the apertured cap 16 and interposed between the bottom face of the ,truck floor 1'? and arm 10 oi'hthe bracket is a coiled spring 18, which coiled spring surrounds the stud and is adapted to force the bracket 10 downwardly, whereby the friction gearwheel 14 is caused to engage the periphery of the engine fly wheel. It will be observed by this construction that the cap-screw 15' of the threaded stud is accessible to the operator and when it Is desired to permanently throw the bracket gearing outof commission that said cap-screw may be manipulated to lift the bracket 10 whereby its friction-wheel will remain in suspension, the coiled spring 18 serving to force said friction wheel into its working position. The action of the coiled spring 18 is opposed by a piston 19, "which piston, as

best shown in Fig. 7, is provided with a piston-rod 19'; having a shoulder 20 that is adapted to engage a foot 21 of the bracket 10, the foot being provided with an aperture through which the piston rod projects. The piston is mounted in a cylinder 22, the bottom portion of which cylinder is provided with a flexible diaphragm 23 that is adapted to oppose'the piston, the bottom of the cylinder'being pro sided with a closed air-channel 2 1 that communicates with an air-supply pipe 25, which pipe is connected to an air-tank 26 that is suitably secured to the trucloframe as best shown in Fig. 1. The head of the cylinder 22 is threaded for the reception of an adjustable gland 27, which glandsurrounds the piston-rod and between its lower face and the face of the piston there is interposed alight coiled spring 28. The tension of this coiled spring -is arranged to be adjusted by the gland, whereby the movement of the piston is predeterminedly regulated with relation to the air pressure-admitted to the under side of the diaphragm from the air storage tank 26.

From the foregoing description with re lation to-the air-controlled piston it will be apparent that when the air pressure below coiled spring 18, in

the diaphragm overcomes the combined pressure of springs 28 and 18 that I the bracket 10 will be forced upwardly, causing disengagement of the friction wheel 14 with the rim of the fly-wheel, this disengagement of the parts being maintained until such time as the pressure in the tank is lowered, whereby the springs will act to again connect the friction wheel 14 with said flywheel. The pump 11 is connected to the airinto motion whereby a fresh supply of air will be admitted to the tank until the pressure reaches a predetermined point to over- I come the coiled springs 18 and 28, said pres-,

sure being exerted directly upon the diaphragm 23 whereby the pump will be. thrown out of action.

Thus a predeter mined pressure can be automatically main tained in said pump by adjustment'of'the gland 27 that is in threaded connection with the cap portion of the cylinder 22.

n some instances, as shown in FigJZ'. of

the drawings, if desired I may provide means for also adjusting the tension of the the upper end of the about a washer 18', which washer is engaged by a set-sorew15 that corresponds to the set-screw 15 shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the set-screw 15. being in threaded engagement with the bottom 17 of the truck-body. in this instance where both of the coiled which case, as shown, coiled spring is fittedsprings are adjusted it is apparent that any manual connection to the frame 1*0 may be utilized permanently lifting the friction wheel 14 from its engaging position with the fly-wheel.

For starting the engine, I provide an air actuated motor 30, which motor as shown is rigidly secured to the cross-girder 2 of the truck-frame. The motor is-provided with a shaft 31, which shaft is splinedi'ortherecepif tion of a pinion 32, the same being provided with a spring-plug 33 that is adapted to engage the spline, this construction being shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The spline is cut away to one side whereby rotation of the motor-shaft in the direction as indicated will cause the pinion to revolve therewith and when so revolved the pinion being in meshed engagement with the toothed ring s 6 that is carried by the fly-wheel, said fiy thus start the engine. Through spline con wheel will be rotated one or more turns to nection between the pinion and motor-shaft when the engine has started, drive will be reversed and the toothed ring will thus be; come the driver whereby the pinion 32 will be idly rotated about the motor'axle until such time as the said toothed pinion will be disengaged from the ring.- Engagement and disengagement of the pinion 32 from the toothed ring is efi ected by a spanner arm 34 whicharm engages a grooved collar 35 of the pinion. The arm is carried by a reciprocative rod 36 that is supported in ears extending from the air motor 30, there being a coiled spring 34; surrounding said rod and interposed between one of the ears and a collar 36 that is rigidly secured to the rod, the said coiled spring serving to force the rod in one direction, whereby the air motor pinion 32 is slidably disengaged from its mesh with the teeth of ring 6. The

rod 36 is connected to a rock-shaft 37 by a leper-arm 38 that is rigidly secured to said rock-shaft, the rock-shaft being also provided with an actuating lever 39 that is manually operated in opposition to the coiled spring 3% whereby the motor pinion is slipped vinto engagement fiy-wheel toothed ring. The rod 36 also carries a slotted finger 40, into-the slot-of which is 'fitted a valve lever 421 that controlst-he'supply of air to the motor, which supply is admitted to said motor through a pipe 42 that is connected to the air tank with the engine 26. It is understood that the air tankisv supplied with a suitable pressure gage as shown, and that said tank may also be provided witha valve-controlled pipe connection 42 for supplying air through a suitable hose connection for infiating the tires of the vehicle or any other pur ose.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that when it is desired to start themotor the operator, by manipulating leher 39 will cause a gear connection to be effected between the air motor and engine fly-wheel and incidental to this movement the finger 40 that is carried by rod 36 will manipulate valve-lever ll whereby a supply of air admitted to said motor. Thus the motor will impart one or more turns to the flywheel of the engine whereby the latter is started and as econ as the operator releases lever 39 spring 34 will automatically disengage the motor pinion from the flywheel by sliding said pinion outwardly. It is also understood that the tank is supplied with air at a pr etermined pressure. Now, as this air pressure is depleted by use, either in starting the engine or otherwise, when it is reduced to a predetermined volume the coiled springs 18 and will act in opposition thereto and thus throw the pump-gear con nection into mesh with the engine lly-whcel whereby the supply of air is automatically renewed up to a predetermined pressure at which time the air will act upon the diaphragm to throw the pump gear out of action. Thus this finely adjusted mechanism will automatically be thrown into and out of engagement with the flywheel of the engine to maintain a predetermined pressure of air in the supply tank.

Attention is called to the fact that this starting mechanism eliminates all supplementary gas char es and sparking mechanism usually emp oyed for the purpose of obtaining an initial start of the engine, the herein described mechanism being urely mechanical and arranged to act directly upon the crank-shaft of the engine in the same manner as heretofore employed in connection with hand cranking with the exfioplea of this patent may be obtained for ception that in this instance a wheel of the engine is gripped for turning said crankshatt over to obtain the desired spark.

I claim:

1. In an engine starter having a toothed gear-wheel, anair motor and its shaft; the combination of a pinion in splined engagement with the motor-shatt, the same being adapted to be slidably moved into and out of engagement with the toothed gear-wheel, a reciprocative rod, a spanner-arm carried by the rod engageable with the pinion, a manually controlled rock-shaft having an arm connected to the rod, an air-supply pipe in communication with the motor, a alvc therefor, and a finger carried by the rcciprocative rod engageable with the valve whereby the same is actuated. co-incident with a shift of the pinion.

2. In an engine starter having a toothet. gcanwhecl, and an air motor having a splined shaft; the combination of a pinion loosely mounted upon the shaft engageable with the gear-wheel, a spring-plug carried by the pinion cngageahle with the shaft spline, a reciprocative rod having a spanner arm engageable with the pinion, an air supply pipe in communication with the mo tor, a valve therefor, and a finger carried by the 'rod engageable with the valve.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee in the county of Milwaukee and State of 'Wiscousin in the presence of two witnesses.

EDNIN D. BANGS.

Witnesses:

G. W. YOUNG M. E. Downer.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. G. 

